This invention relates to an amplifier comprising a current mirror circuit and a current splitting circuit which splits up an input signal applied to the amplifier dependent upon the signal polarity, and in which negative input currents flowing out of the amplifier are applied to the current mirror circuit whose controlled output current is applied to a control input of a first current amplifier circuit arranged in the amplifier.
An amplifier of this type is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,443. In this amplifier the input current is applied to a first current mirror circuit or a second current mirror circuit, dependent on its polarity. The first current mirror circuit controls the base input of an NPN transistor. The second current mirror circuit generates a current in an NPN transistor at the other polarity, which transistor is connected at its collector end to the output load and at its emitter end to the second current mirror circuit. This different connection of the two output transistors results in an asymmetrical behaviour of the circuit so that the output signal is different dependent on the polarity of the input signal.